Pocket Animator
by Rose Blood Cat
Summary: Henry loved art. He loved comics, cartoons, and the wonderful moving pictures people made. And desperately wished he could be out there making them himself. But, at less then 5in tall, that was a dream that would never come to pass. Or would it?
1. Beginning

Borrower Henry- Pocket Animator AU

_**The Beginning**_

An animation studio was both a fantastic and a _horrible_ place for a Borrower to make their home.

It was fantastic because it was huge and had plenty of space for a Borrower to make their home, there were plenty of work and office supplies to borrow, the humans would only be there from sunup to sundown and then they would be gone for the rest of the day. And even when a worker stayed to work on something, there were still plenty of places to go where a borrower wouldn't be found.

And it was a horrible place because of how _little_ there was to borrow. The kitchen didn't have much to eat for anyone (human or borrower), sewing supplies and cloth of any kind was hard to find, along with other smaller items. Basically all the things that made everyday life easier.

Despite that, Henry chose to make his home in one anyways. He couldn't help himself. No matter how much of a change it was from the large apartment building he had previously lived in with his parents and a few other Borrower families.

Art wasn't a skill needed by Borrowers. For most of them, it was a passing fancy at best. But not Henry.

He loved art. He loved comics. He loved cartoons. He loved all those frivolous things that Borrowers didn't need that humans made and enjoyed. His parents hadn't been opposed to his artisticness, not like the neighbors who would say it was a "cute hobby" to pass time until he could borrow.

His father was a carpenter (of sorts) and his mother a house decorator. They traded with local Borrowers by customizing furniture for others and helping them decorate their homes. It wasn't the same as how humans did such jobs (as Borrowers had no currency to exchange between each other), but for themselves and others, it was a good way to pass time and make their homes more comfortable.

They had, instead, encouraged his creativity in ways they would prove useful to him. With his father teaching him how to carve designs in his furniture and his mother showing him how to paint his walls to make them feel more comfortable and help them stay nice longer.

When he was borrowing with his family, Henry would take bits of broken pencil leads and scraps of paper while getting food for their pantries. Usually to make his own little sketchbooks to draw in. And he would fill them up. With life drawings, scenes, cartoons, anything that came to mind.

Upon hearing the humans in the apartment his family borrowed from talking about an animation company was going to open down the street, Henry decided to take a chance.

He was old enough to move out, but there had been too many families already living in the apartment building to make him staying there comfortable. So why not move into the studio?

He talked to his family about his plan and his parents gave their (somewhat reluctant) blessings and let him go. He spent a few days planning how he would accomplish his trip safely, accepting an Outsider's offer to help him make the journey since they were headed that way anyway. He carefully packed his bags, his supplies, and set out for his new home.

The studio (which seemed to still be in the early stages of setup) was bigger than Henry had thought it would be.

(Later on, he'd found out the building had formerly been a mill. But the owner of the Studio, one Joey Drew, had bought the building at a bargain. And, at the time, had far more room than his small-time company needed.)

To Henry's surprise, the old building already had numerous Borrower tunnels, and even a Borrower House right on top of what the human's had dubbed the Lunch Room. The house even had rooms for storage or even other Borrowers.

The house was in desperate need of some cleaning and care, but it was better than what Henry had thought he would find.

It wasn't much. It wasn't even very good. But it was Henry's, and it was enough for him.

* * *

So, a little while back, I drew a picture of a tiny, borrower-Esque Henry due to me being on a kick that had me searching for stories via a tag I was searching on Ao3 and a story I stumbled across here and found myself far more enthralled with idea than I'd first thought and started writing for it.

So far, I have three shorts in this AU written out, with a fourth as a WIP, and I've decided to share them on more than just Tumblr.

I hope you all like it!


	2. The Birth of a Star

_The Birth of a Star_

Henry enjoyed watching the humans go about their work in the studio. Watching them create their moving pictures, seeing the characters come to life on the screens, listening to the life of the creations of the studio. Especially the work of the animators.

He loved it all, no matter the stresses he could see, the energy from the workers, the pell-mell of coming deadlines. He loved everything about their work.

There were days where Henry would imagine himself among them. Hunched over a desk while sketching out characters, inking frames for the episodes, joking with coworkers when they had time. Maybe even hanging out with people from other departments to gossip.

But Henry knew it would never happen.

He was a Borrower. He was meant to be unseen, unheard, and unknown by humans. He was small enough to fit in their hands. He would never be able to work alongside them as an equal.

But the want was still there.

Henry slid down the thread of his grappling hook from his tunnel in the ceiling down to the drawing desk below. He needed some more scrap paper and leads for his personal drawings and tonight was the perfect time to do it.

There was an unusual frenzy in the art departments that week, one that had been felt by everyone in the studio (Henry included), but that meant it was perfect for borrowing trip.

Humans were always messier and more forgetful when they were busy or under more stress than usual.

He neatly landed on the slightly slanted surface, glancing around the desk to make sure the human that normally used it hadn't left out anything that could be trouble for him. It was much more cluttered than usual, with crumpled papers and drawing tools scattered around. It was great for borrowing, but Henry couldn't help feeling a little worried.

He liked his humans, so the idea of them stressing themselves out badly made him worry for them. Seeing them all so ruffled made him wish he could do something to help.

His eyes landed on a sheet of paper laid out. Curiosity perked, Henry wandered over to read it.

It was a department memo. From the Studio president, Joey Drew.

He wanted everyone to try designing a mascot character for the studio. A star to make their studio unique, to help them stand out from the competition.

Thinking about it, the other studios Henry had heard about all had their own stars they were famous for. He supposed it wasn't actually surprising that the President would try to pool his resources by asking everyone to try and come up with a design for them. It was important for the company. The memo said that they had to hand in the designs anonymously, and all the department heads would decide which one they would use. To make sure there wouldn't be any bias.

From what little Henry knew about humans, that was actually a very generous set-up.

But, judging by the noise he'd heard over the week and the messes he could see on everyone's desks, they weren't having much success.

_`You could make one.` _A little voice in the back of his head whispered. He'd tried to design characters of his own, tucked away in his sketchbooks.

_No, _Henry thought firmly, _I can't. 'Leave no trace of your presence.' That's one of the most important rules of borrowing. Humans can't have any idea that I'm here._

No matter how much he wanted to see his own creations come to life, he couldn't try to present his works to them.

_'You wouldn't have to, it's anonymous. That means no one would know. No one but you.`_

_But they would expect the person who made the character to tell them afterward. To take credit for the piece that they all said they wanted for their star. _He hesitated, gripping one of the straps of his pack.

_`Maybe, but that doesn't mean you can't try.`_

Henry hurried around the desk, trying to shove back the tempting (and somewhat dangerous) thoughts tickling at the back of his mind. He needed to grab what he was after and get back in the walls before he did something that got him into trouble. But once the idea had been planted, it took root quickly.

He filled his pack and shimmied back up the tread, retreating back home as quickly as possible. It was only once he was safely in his home that he let those tempting thoughts return.

He had characters, ones that he genuinely wanted to see be loved. To be able to share and feel proud of. But could he really try sticking a draft of his characters for them on a human's desk to see if they'll want them?

It was important for animation companies to stand out. If the company couldn't stand out, it wouldn't get business. If it couldn't get business, then it would close down. And if it went out of business, Henry would lose his home.

At least, that was the mantra Henry repeated in his head as he pulled out a number of pieces of paper and dug through his sketchbooks for characters.

~~B~O~R~R~O~W~E~R~~H~E~N~R~Y~~

Henry picked out one of his best characters, one that he came up with simply because he wanted someone different from all the other characters he'd seen but also felt like he could connect to for being _*different* _from everyone else around him.

A little devil that he'd named Bendy.

He had changed the design slightly from his original sketches, hoping to make his little devil more appealing to the humans. All Henry drew was a head.

On a bunch of notes. Probably far more than was needed.

The Borrower waited until the humans had gone home for the weekend before setting to work.

He carefully descended into the art department to place his sketches. To settle his nerves (or at least to get his mind to focus less on the dangers he was getting into) by turning it into a game to find, make his way to, and place a picture of his little devil on every drawing desk he could find.

He wasn't terribly happy with the design of his little devil, but he hoped it would be what the humans wanted.

The first day that the humans came back, Henry was on edge until they left. He wanted to badly to eavesdrop and hear what they thought of his drawings, but he was far too worried that his anxiety would make him slip up and do something that would draw attention to him. Not wanting to risk it, he stayed home all day to keep himself hidden.

Once he was sure they were gone, he made his way to the art department once more.

He wasn't happy with what he found.

"A 'NO'? After all of that? After wearing a groove in my floor from anxiety for an entire day, the answer is 'no'?" He blurted, his nerves finally bleeding out as frustration. He didn't even know why he'd been given a 'no', just that it had been turned down. He scowled down at the note. He had to give it another go. He had to.

It wouldn't be until he'd finished a full-body sketch of his little devil (the little mouth replaced with the grin he'd originally wanted there, but still without the tail he had in Henry's sketchbooks) and Bendy's name written out and the details of his character listed and placed _directly _on the President's desk, that Henry realized he'd flown in the face of the rules of Borrowers to make something he wanted to happen, happen.

Normally, this would have him calling himself all kinds of stupid. For taking the risk, for placing himself in a dangerous place, for not keeping as hidden as he should have been.

But seeing his little Bendy dancing on a screen in the studio's theater drove those thoughts from his mind for good.

* * *

And that's how teeny tiny Henry "pitched" his Devil Darling to a bunch of giants without ever actually MEETING them.


	3. Cake Time!

_Cake Time!_

Cake was a rare treat, in Henry's mind.

Rare to see, rare to find, rare to _h__ave._

Even before he made his home in the Studio, Henry rarely ever got to have some. Probably because humans only ever had cake on special occasions, so it was never really around for a Borrower like him to get a piece from.

Which made the presence of the cake in the back office of the management area that much more eye catching. Henry had nearly stumbled from his hiding space in the ceiling when he saw it on his borrowing trip. He crouched in his hiding place above the shelves pressed against the wall, looking down at the neatly boxed treat sitting innocently on the desk far below.

Henry vaguely remembered hearing from one of the offices earlier in the week that the Studio had signed a deal with a larger playing company to get their cartoons shipped out and played in larger theaters, so he could only assume that there was a party being planned for the staff. And, therefore, it was for the staff to _eat _at the party.

By that logic, Henry shouldn't even be _c__onsidering _borrowing from it.

Borrower's should only take what _wouldn't _be missed. And bits from a cake still in the box would _definitely _be missed.

Except...

There was a _cake._ An unguarded, fresh, still soft, _cake._ And it was just _sitting _there.

Henry's desire for a fresh treat (and not something that had had time to get hard and lose its taste) was at war with his common sense as Borrower. The sense that said he should skip it, that it wasn't worth the risk of leaving a trace of his presence in the studio where the humans could see it, that he didn't even _need _to get anything from it. But...

_When would he get a chance like this again?_

He gripped at his grappling hook and started untangling it from his belt.

He only had one shot at this, and no idea when a human would come back to check on the treat and make sure no one had snuck bites of it. (Especially the Janitor, he had an appetite unlike anyone the Borrower had ever seen before.)

Henry had room in his pack, now it was time to see how much he could get away with before he had to hightail it out of there.

~~B~O~R~R~O~W~E~R~~H~E~N~R~Y~~

Wally knew he shouldn't have gone back for the cake he'd seen while cleaning earlier. If he was caught eating some of the cake for the Studio party, he would be in a _*ton* _of trouble. But there was a gosh darn _cake_ back there!

It was a temptation the Janitor couldn't resist. (And honestly, it was one he didn't really _want _to resist.)

He snuck back to the office he remembered seeing them in, keeping an eye out for anyone who would either stop him or rat fink him. But slowed when he saw that the door to the office in question was open. Open and with someone standing in the doorway. Wally felt his heart sink to his feet when he realized who it was.

"Franks." Sammy's voice was even, and his tone was blank. Worryingly so. He couldn't tell what Sammy was feeling with that tone. "Were you aware that I had a cake in this room?"

His nervousness promptly skyrocketed. Wally couldn't tell if he should act casual or take off like a bat out of hell.

"Cake? I don't know anything about a cake." Sammy's eyes narrowed.

"Oh really? So you don't have _any _idea how _this _could have happened to my cake?" He said coolly, stepping aside and jabbing a finger inside. Wally carefully approached, peering into the room. Everything was still in the same place as when he'd come in earlier.

The bookcase was still pushed against the wall, the desk right next to it, the file cabinets tucked in one corner, the chair was still sticking out slightly, the cake box had a hole ripped in the side of the cardboard- Wait a sec.

"What the heck?! How did this happen?" Wally gaped at the box. Who had done that?! He hurried forward to examine the damage.

He hadn't thought anyone but him (and apparently Sammy) had known the cake was there, so no one else should have been able to go after it. Who would have snuck in there to steal some of the cake? And why would they just open a hole in the side of the box instead of actually _opening_ it?

His eyes followed the crumbs and icing smears off the edge of the desk, before going back to the slightly sloppily dug hole in the box. The hole that was too small for someone's hand to get inside…

"Oh, crap…" He muttered, looking back at the music director. "I think we might have mice in the studio."

~~B~O~R~R~O~W~E~R~~H~E~N~R~Y~~

It had been a chocolate cake. With chocolate frosting.

Henry happily licked the frosting from his hands while strolling through his tunnels. It had been a risk. A _big _risk. But it had been worth it. Completely worth it.

(Until a week later, when Henry would be cursing his sweets while replanning his routes to avoid the Mouse Traps that had been placed throughout the studio.)

* * *

Gotta love when people's actions get themselves into trouble without them unending it, and thus moving my very slight (though mostly unplanned) plot.

Now I've posted all the completed shorts that I have so far. I want to talk about the next part, but I also don't want to spoil it for anyone. I'll just say, it's about how one member of staff got to meet the smallest resident of their studio for the first time.


	4. Who's Who from a Borrower's View

_**Who's Who from a Borrower's Point of View**_

Borrower's, generally, never remembered the names of the humans they borrowed from.

There was a reason for it, one Henry knew well. Remembering the names of humans could lead to familiarity with them.

Borrowers that let themselves feel too familiar with their humans would get too comfortable with them. They wouldn't be as cautious. And forgetting to be cautious could lead to getting hurt, or even getting _caught _by the humans.

The closest they would get would be calling the humans by descriptions. Things like Male human, Female human, Old human, girl child, boy child, etc. Simple things to tell which ones they were referring too, but also detached enough to not let themselves be too close.

But the studio had so many humans moving about each day, Henry realized that he would _have _to refer to his humans with more personal terms just so he could tell them apart. _Many _more than most Borrowers would have to keep track of. It lead to him taking time to spy on the humans to find features about them he could use to tell them all apart. It also helped that, being a studio, a number of the humans had titles he could use for them.

After a while, Henry had figured out a schedule for his humans, including ways to refer to them. And learning about them as he went.

The first person to come in every day was the Music Director, closely followed by the Projectionist. They would both come in as the sun was rising, eat breakfast they brought with them in the Lunchroom (they were both very neat eaters, meaning little to no crumbs for Henry to nab), then they would split apart and start working. The Music Director would go to his department and work at his desk or he would examine all the instruments in the Recording Studio.

The Projectionist, on the other hand, would go through the studio and check all the projectors before retreating to either the Theater (where he would watch some of the reels and check them over) or to his booth in the Music department.

After those two would be the President and the Accountant, both of whom would eat something from the Lunchroom then go to their respective offices to work. But, after a few hours, the President would leave his office and start helping the artists and storyboarders finish the next cartoon on time.

Following them would be the Lyricist and the Janitor. The Lyricist would just head to his workplace and hole up for the day, only emerging for food and drinks and to go home at the end of the day.

The Janitor would go off and meander about the studio for most of the day, cleaning as he went. He wasn't very thorough, but he did enough for the studio to be considered "clean".

And, about once a week, the Gent Mechanic would come in after them. He wasn't there often, but he worked hard to keep the plumbing in the studio in good condition. Then the rest of the staff would arrive, all of them in larger groups that were harder for Henry to keep track of.

Henry also kept notes on the behavior and his opinions on the humans that worked at the studio.

The Music Director was a very punctual man, but also very prone to stress and had a very short temper. He was very good at his job, there was no denying that, but he was very critical of the other workers. Henry liked him, he had a very good work ethic, but he needed to let himself relax more. He couldn't help thinking the man would make a great Borrower.

The Projectionist was a favorite of Henry's humans. He liked hiding in the walls of the man's booth when he felt overwhelmed and couldn't borrow. He would sing to himself sometimes, Henry found it very relaxing to listen to.

The President owned the company and had it named after him. He was a touch of an egoist, from what Henry could tell. But he had a good heart and tried to take care of his employees as best he could, taking care of complaints as quickly as he could manage, making sure there was dry food in the Lunchroom if anyone forgot to bring food, and helping out where he could. He also gave amazing inspirational speeches.

The Accountant was as punctual as the Music Director and was prone to twice the stress. He drank his coffee "black as tar", hated when his work was interrupted, was prone to gossip when he visited the Lunchroom, and ate muffins every morning. He didn't suffer fools and got frustrated very easily.

The Lyricist, despite working in the Music Department, was a very quiet man. He tended to lock himself in an office in total silence to write lyrics for the Music Director's songs. Henry wasn't sure how the silence helped him write, the borrower thought that at least _listening_to the song he was writing for would help but apparently not.

Henry had a bit of a soft spot for the Janitor. He was the youngest staff member and would help out other staff members by doing snacks and drink runs for people who couldn't leave their desks. He was clumsy and always stumbling over his own feet, a messy eater (so many crumbs for Henry to grab!) and incredibly forgetful. He didn't think the teen wouldn't make a very good Borrower (as harsh as it seemed), but Henry was _sure _the poor human would forget his own head if it wasn't attached to him. And the human had an appetite that was downright _otherworldly. _ He would eat anything and everything that he could get his hands. (Henry _deeply _ wished he could do that.)

The Gent Mechanic, though he wasn't around very often, was the most dangerous human for Henry. He was harsher than most of the other people who worked in the studio, he was a hard worker, and took his job very seriously. But he was _so dangerous _to Henry, simply because the human in question was the only one who regularly _went inside the walls _of the studio.

He had nicknames for other staff members, but the fact that so many of them had titles for their jobs helped him, but it was still hard at times to remember each of their schedules so he could work around them.

Even with all of that, Henry rarely left the walls anyways. It was easier and safer to just wait until the end of the workday to go borrowing.

But that didn't make people-watching (or rather, listening) any less of an entertaining hobby for him.

* * *

This is actually earlier in the timeline for this series and is built on Henry being careful to not be seen by the studio staff, but also him needing a way to identify which people in the studio he's talking about.

I have more nicknamed characters, but most of the ones here all are referred to by their Job titles. I may post a list of various staff nicknames later. For now, however, I just wanted to write something for this AU.


End file.
